By Balwant Sanghera – THIRD IN A SERIES ON MY LIFE

Working at the saw mill in Donald, BC gave me an opportunity to learn about some of the Canadian values, culture, customs, history and traditions. This experience was very helpful to me when I started my journey towards a career in education at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in September, 1966. This brand new university on Burnaby Mountain had just opened its doors a year ago, in September, 1965. The university architecture by world famous architect Arthur Erickson was just amazing. It was widely applauded and praised .In addition to its impressive architecture, SFU also became famous for its radicalism. One specific department was considered to be the hot bed of radicals. There were frequent demonstrations on and off campus on various issues. On one occasion, a large number of students even went to Victoria to demonstrate at the Parliament Buildings for more funding foe post-secondary education. It took a few years before things settled down at SFU and the situation became normal like other universities.

During my year at SFU I learned a lot about Canadian politics. There were political clubs aligned with the main political parties. As a member of these political clubs one could get a good grasp about the political structure and Canadian politics. Well-known personalities and political leaders would often visit the SFU campus for talks etc. Thus, it was an honour for me as a student at SFU to meet and talk to Prime Minister Mike Pearson on one of his visits to SFU and Vancouver. Meeting with Mr. Pearson was one of the highlights of my days at SFU .In addition to various clubs on campus, there was also a model United Nations at the university. As part of this, it was a pleasure for me to travel to Portland, Oregon for one of the Model UN Conferences. Thus, in addition to regular studies at the university, there was so much more to do socially and culturally.  So far as the regular studies were concerned I found the educational experience at this post –secondary institution to be just fascinating.

Terms like tutorials, term papers, mid- term exams, quizzes, classroom participation were totally new to me. It was way different from the process of ones performance on just the final exam and the cramming of facts and figures .Here, students were (and have been) encouraged to think rather than cram facts and figures. Also, the student performance did not depend upon his/her performance on the final exam only. Instead it was spread over a number of performance indicators throughout the semester or the year. Another thing that I found strange was that some of the professors would encourage their students to call them by their first names rather than sir or madam.  It was so informal. The other aspect of university education here quite different from the one I had experienced in the Punjab was the interaction with the students by professors and Teaching Assistants (T.As). The professors would address a large number of students in big lecture halls. That was followed by small tutorial groups where the TAs, usually graduate and post-graduate students in that faculty, would follow up on the lecture. In short, it was a very different, enjoyable and rewarding experience for me. 

While thinking about my year at SFU one incident still stands out clearly in my mind. It was early November and I was studying in the university library. The huge plaza outside the library was uncovered at that time. Suddenly, snowflakes started hitting the ground. This was the first time I had seen the snow and a snow fall.    I was so excited that I put all of my books away and ran outside to the plaza in order to feel and enjoy the snowfall.

More than 25 years later, in mid 1990s, I was appointed by the Provincial Government to the Senate at SFU. That appointment gave me an opportunity to see the big changes that had taken place at the university. It brought back some very pleasant memories for me of this great centre of learning on top of Burnaby Mountain... During these years, SFU has come a long way from its early years of turmoil and upheaval. During these years, SFU has gained an enviable position as an inspirational institution of higher learning. I still fondly cherish some of those pleasant memories associated with SFU both as a student and as a Senator. 

Balwant Sanghera is a retired School Psychologist and Community Activist.